greater, a., adv., and n.
(ˈgreɪtə(r))
Forms: 1 gr{yacu}ttra, 3–4 grettur, -yr, 4–5 gratter, -ur, gretter, -or, 5–6 greter, 4–6 Sc. gretar, (5 greiter, 6 grytur, griter, greitar, greittar, 6–9 gritter), 6– greater.
[OE. gr{yacu}ttra (*gr{iacu}etra, Anglian *grétra):—OTeut. *grautizon-, comparative of *grauto- great a.; but it is doubtful whether any of the later forms descend directly from this, most if not all being, like the now current form, refashioned on the positive. See -er3.]
A. adj.
1. a. The comparative of great in various senses.
c 950 Epist. Alex. in Anglia IV. 151 Wæron hie [serpents] swa greate swa columnan ᵹe eac sume..gryttran. a 1225 Ancr. R. 420 Euer me is leouere so ȝe don gretture werkes. Ne makie none purses..ne blodbendes of seolke, auh schepieð..chirche cloðes, and poure monne cloðes. a 1300 Cursor M. 11078 O wijf..was neuer born nan A gretter barn þan sant iohan. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 197 He hadde of gold ywroght a curious pyn: A loue knotte in the gretter ende ther was. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3874 Was neuer kyng..his knightes more louet, Ne gretter of giftes to his goode men. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. vi. (1885) 122 We beyre moch gretter charges yerely than done the Scottis. 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Athan. Creed, And in this trinitie none is afore nor after other: none is greater nor lesse then other. 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 75 We culd neuer wishe ane gryter benefit nor yat Christ Iesus our lord..suld sa giv him self haill for vs. a 1605 Montgomerie Sonn. xii, Can candle lou give fyr a griter heet? 1605 Shakes. Macb. i. iii. 65 Lesser then Macbeth, and greater. 1611 B. Jonson Catiline ii. (Chorus), Great father Mars, and greater Iove. 1654 Jer. Taylor Real Pres. 193 The greater your reason is against it, the greater excellency in your obedience. 1664 Pepys Diary 15 July, He says that he is as great with the Chancellor, or greater, than ever in his life. 1748 Earthquake Peru i. 39 A French Toise, or Fathom, is about five Inches greater than the English. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. ii. 16 The sound..appears to come from greater and greater distances. |
b. the greater part,
† greater sort, etc.: the larger of two parts into which any whole or quantity is divided; the more considerable number or quantity (of); the majority.
1578 Timme Caluine on Gen. 42 The greater sort do agree that this word [image] is distinguished from Likeness. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. iv. 3 b, The greater part of us went a shoare to see the Ilande. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iv. ii. 29 The greater part, the Horse in generall Are come with Cassius. 1603 ― Meas. for M. iii. ii. 145 The greater file of the subiect held the Duke to be wise. 1781 C. Johnston John Juniper II. 249 The characters in tragedy are, for much the greater part, out of common life. 1829 Landor Wks. (1846) II. 210/1 The greater number of men..are disposed, on most occasions, rather to virtue than to vice. 1861 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 45 The greater part of the area was covered with the lofty warehouses. |
c. Applied to and descriptive of towns (to indicate the inclusion of adjoining boroughs, suburbs, etc.) and countries (with dependencies, etc.).
1616 T. Coryat Traveller for English Wits 12 Traiecto Tigride, I entred Armenia the greater: After that, Media the lower. Ibid. 19 My whole perambulation of this Asia the greater. 1868 Greater Britain [see Britain n. 1]. 1882 Encycl. Brit. IV. 834/1 The London police district, or ‘Greater London’, is divided into two police jurisdictions, that of the metropolitan police,..and that of the City police. 1898 Appletons' Dict. of N.Y. (title-page), First ‘Greater New York’ Edition. Ibid. p. iii, The present edition of this book is the first to deal with the territory of the ‘Greater New York’ as constituting one municipality. 1939 Ann. Reg. 1938 190 After the Anschluss with Austria, Czechoslovakia was surrounded on three sides by Greater Germany. 1955 Times 2 Aug. 6/5 Motorists living in the Greater London area were on the roads early in the morning bound for the seaside or the country. 1958 Listener 21 Aug. 274/2 Apart from Greater London and Greater Birmingham all the conurbations were either increasing their population at a rate far lower than the nation as a whole or (in the case of Greater Manchester) were even losing population. |
† 2. Older, elder. [A Latinism.]
Obs.c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 383 He þat is gratter of ȝow, loke þat he be made as ȝongar in sympilnes. 1535 Coverdale 1 Sam. xvii. 28 And Eliab his greater brother herde him talke with the men. |
† 3. Pregnant.
Obs. rare.
c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Theodera 550 Syne eftyre of tyme in processe Hapnyt þat scho gretare wes, & hyr frendis sperit ȝarne Quha with hyr gat þat barne. |
4. In special or technical use, opposed to
lesser.
a. Astron. in names of certain constellations, as
the Greater Dog,
† the Greater (now Great) Bear. Also
† greater circle = ‘great circle’: see
circle.
b. Mus. Applied to intervals now usually called
major.
c. in names of plants.
d. in names of animals,
esp. birds.
e. Anat. f. (see
quot.).
a. 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 263 The lesser Beare..the greater Beare. 1638 J. Chilmead tr. Hues Tractatus de Globis iii. ii. (1889) 80 Of the Circumference of the Earth, or of a Greater Circle. 1674 Moxon Tutor Astron. (ed. 3) 209 Ursa Major, the Greater Bear. 1727–51 Chambers Cycl. s.v., The Equator, meridian, ecliptic, verticals, &c. are great or greater circles of the sphere: and the parallels, tropics, &c. lesser circles. |
b. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. Annot., The greater halfe note is that distance which is betwixt fa and mi. 1674 Playford Skill Mus. iii. 11 A sixth beneath the Bass is a third above, and if it be the lesser sixth, then is the third above the greater third. 1727–51 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Diesis, Enharmonical Diesis is the difference between a greater and lesser semi-tone. 1818 Busby Gram. Music 317 Greater Sixth. 1887 Browning Parleyings, C. Avison iv, The key Was..C..with the Greater Third. |
c. 1776–96 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 745 Greater Knapweed. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower Pl. IV. 75 Greater Broom-rape. Ibid. 215 Greater Bladderwort. Ibid. 255 Greater Plantain. Ibid. V. 305 Greater Water Plantain. |
d. 1876 Smiles Sc. Natur. xi. (ed. 4) 213 A Greater Shrike or Butcher Bird. 1885 Swainson Prov. Names Birds 208 Greater Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus). Ibid. 215 Greater loon. |
e. 1872 Mivart Elem. Anat. 180 The deep concavity..called the greater ischiatic notch. |
f. 1614 Selden Titles Hon. 344 Barons with the rest vpward wee call the Greater Nobilitie, the others beneath them the Lesse Nobilitie. |
¶ 5. Greater Britain: see
Britain.
† 6. Comb., forming comparatives to the combinations of
great a.
Obs.1562 Turner Herbal ii. 101 Wilde lekes..greater heded then they were that I saw about Bon. 1597 Bacon Coulers Good & Euill v. (Arb.) 144 Men whose living lieth together in one Shire, are commonly counted greater landed then those whose livings are dispersed. |
† B. adv. In a greater degree.
Obs.1496 Dives & Paup. (W. de W.) i. xlii. 82/1 Greter sodayne deth wyste I neuer than that men had than. |
C. quasi-n. and n. a. The
adj. used
absol. and
ellipt. the greater: that or those of greater size, importance, eminence, etc.
a greater: a person or thing which is greater (than another).
1388 Wyclif Isa. xxxii. 5 He that is vnwijs schal no more be clepid prince, and a gileful man schal not be clepid the grettere [Vulg. major]. 1607 Shakes. Timon iv. iii. 6 The greater scornes the lesser. 1620 T. Granger Div. Logike 121 Negations of unequals are of the greater, or lesse, or of both together. 1845 M{supc}Culloch Taxation i. i. i. (1852) 51 Unless a method should be found of taking a greater from a less. 1898 Morley in Westm. Gaz. 27 June 10/1 We mourn for one of the greater among the servants of mankind. |
† b. (One's) superior.
Obs.1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxxii. 251 Kyng Edward his gretter and his fadre. 1627 J. Carter Plaine Expos. 85 They come farre short, not onely of some of their compeeres and greaters especially, but of many very base creatures. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 172 Thou Sun, of this great World both Eye and Soule, Acknowledge him thy Greater. 1671 ― P.R. i. 279 He..first Refused on me his baptism to confer, As much his greater, and was hardly won. |
Hence
† ˈgreaterness, the condition or quality of being greater.
1625 Gill Sacr. Philos. i. xi. (1635) 59 The working of God is infinite..for otherwise there should bee a greaternesse in being, and a lessenesse in working. c 1705 Berkeley Commonpl. Bk. Wks. 1871 IV. 485 Why should we judge her [i.e. the horizontal moon] to be greater? What connexion betwixt the same angle, further distant, and greaterness? |